Body, Identity and Interaction: Interpreting Nonverbal Communication

Allan Canfield, Ph.D.

• Preface
• Scholarly Matters
• Text Structure
• Acknowledgements and Dedications

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1. Making Sense of Nonverbal Communication

• Chapter Overview
• Aspects of Nonverbal Communication
• Research
• Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
• The Body and Identity
• Towards a Definition of Nonverbal Communication
• Behavior and Communication
• Differences Between Verbal and Nonverbal Communication
• The Complexity of Nonverbal Communication
• Nonconscious and Habituated Behavior
• Accidental and Intentional Communication
• Signs, Symbols, Codes and Display Rules
• Emblematic and Gestural Communication
• Artifacts, Ceremonies and Rituals
• The Human Sensorium and Related Phenomena
• The Senses: Smell | Taste | Vision | Hearing | Touch
• Physical Attributes and Kinesics
• Somatypes
• Body Language
• Paralanguage
• Environmental Influences
• Proxemics
• Chronemics
• Other Background Influences
• Sources of Knowledge About Nonverbal Communication
• Ethology, Biology and Evolution
• Linguistics and Anthropology
• Sociology and Social Psychology
• Communication
• Key Themes in Nonverbal Communication Research
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Age
• Technology and Mediation
• Related Topics
• Research Perspectives
• Self Assessment and Nonverbal Skills
• Summary
• Questions for Thought and Discussion
• Notes
• Suggested Readings

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2. Cultural Influences on Nonverbal Communication - Making Sense of Cultural Processes

• Chapter Overview
• The Many Meanings of Culture
• Multiple Interpretations of Culture
• Enculturation Processes: Assimilation and Accommodation
• The Creation of Values
• The Shaping of Worldviews
• Cultural Dimensions
• Culture as Communication
• Cultural Influences on Nonverbal Communication
• The Hierarchy of Races in Early Anthropology
• Symbolizing the Human body
• Influences on Identity
• The Cultural Production of Face
• Cultural Influences on the Senses
• Cultural Influences on the Emotions
• Cultural Influences on Body Language, Posture, and Gesture
• Culture and Collective Nonverbal Communication
• Cultural Symbols
• Symbols, Beliefs and Behavior
• Paralanguage
• Rituals and Ceremonies
• Background Factors and Nonverbal Communication
• The General Environment
• Chronemics: Culture and Time
• Proxemics: Culture and Space
• The Geo-techno Dimension
• Summary
• Questions for Thought and Discussion
• Notes
• Suggested Readings

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3. Social Influences on Nonverbal Communication - Making Sense of Social Processes

• Chapter Overview
• Social Interaction and the Construction of Meaning
• Sensemaking or the 'Logic in use'
• Revisiting Symbolization
• The Situated Self, Standpoint Theory, Context and Codes
• The Influence of Place
• Agentive and Enactment Processes
• Human Agentry and Role-Taking
• Dramaturgy
• Games and Strategies
• Socialization Processes
• Early Childhood Activities: Imitation, Modeling and Role-Taking and Interaction
• Play
• Joint Attention and Interaction
• Self and Body Image
• Stages in Life
• Nonverbal Competence and the Presentation of Self
• Action Theory and Networking
• Peer Groups, Work and Institutional Influences
• Monadic, Dyadic and Group Activities
• Familial Influences
• The Creation of Relationships
• Interaction Routines and Public Activities
• Face-to-Face Interaction
• Routinized Behaviors
• Contingent Behavior
• Public Displays
• The Influence of Master Themes: Gender, Ethnicity, Age and Technology
• Micro, Meso and Macro Processes
• Ethnic Behaviors
• Genderized Behaviors
• The Aging Behaviors
• Technological Mediation
• Related Aspects of Social Influence
• Social Class, Social Power and Influence
• Regional Influences
• Specialized Milieaus and Manifest Codes
• Summary
• Questions for Thought and Discussion
• Notes
• Suggested Readings

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4. Psychological Influences on Nonverbal Communication - Making Sense of Psychological Processes

• Chapter Overview
• Ethological and Biological influences
• Theories of Consciousness
• Ethology and Behavior
• Autonomic Activities
• Neuronal, Sensory, Perceptual and Emotional Processes
• The Brain
• Psychology, Biology and the Senses
• Oculesics
• Haptics
• Aurality
• Olfaction
• Gustatory Processes
• The Emotions
• Chronobiology
• Psychological and Symbolic Processes
• The Perceptual-Attribution Processes
• Consciousness, Nonconsciousness and Dreams
• Sleeping and Dreaming
• Mindfulness and Scripted Behaviors
• Identity and Self
• The Body as a Medium of Expression
• Body Shine
• Body Metaphors
• Normalcy, Shyness and Pathologies
• Shyness
• Biological and Psychological Disorders
• Differential Uses of the Body
• The Eyes and Facial Primacy
• Body Language
• Gestures and Emblems
• Self-presentation and Impression Management
• Monitoring the Self; Monitoring Others
• Self-presentation, Impression Management and Skilled Agentry
• The Nonverbal Reportoire
• Summary
• Questions for Thought and Discussion
• Notes
• Suggested Readings

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5. Gendered Influences on Nonverbal Communication - Making Sense of Gender

• Chapter Overview
• The Human Body and Sexual Behaviors
• Myths about Sex and Gender
• Biological Factors
• The Genetic Male and Female
• Male and Female Hormones
• Sexual Behaviors and Physical Attractiveness
• Brain and Neuronal Differences
• Sensate Differences
• Gender as a Social Construction
• Genderization
• Socio-cultural Aspects of Gendered Identity
• Birthing and Socialization
• Gender Constancy and Middle Childhood Discourse Styles
• Female and Male Self Presentations
• Gendered Lenses, Androgyny and Stereotypes
• Gender, Standpoint, Power and Place
• Gender and Situation
• Gender, Ethnicity and Age
• Gender and the Media
• Gender in Relationships: Styles and Levels of Intimacy
• Gendered Encounters
• Types of Relationships
• Courtship Patterns
• Power and Violence in Relationships
• Gender in Social Situations
• Gender Schooling
• Gender and the Media
• Summary
• Questions for Thought and Discussion
• Notes
• Suggested Readings

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6. Ethnicity and Nonverbal Communication - Making Sense of Ethnicity

• Chapter Overview
• Ethnic Identity: A Historiographic Approach
• The American Egalitarian Ethos
• Early thought: The Great Chain of Being
• Monogenetics and Polygenetics
• The Concept of Race
• Phrenology
• Ethnicity
• A Brief Sketch of Ethnic Group Identity
• Native Americans: The Navajo or Dine
• Chinese Americans
• Africans/Black Americans
• Cuban Americans
• Ethnic Differences
• Linguistic Distinctiveness
• The Individualism-Communalism Dimension
• Differences in Cosmologies and Thoughtways
• Chinese, Navajo, Black and Cuban Cosmologies
• Other Differences
• White Power and Early Contact with People of Color
• The Contact Hypothesis
• The Navajo: Loss of Place and Identity
• Destruction of Black Identity, Time and Place
• The Chinese: Yellow Peril and Isolation
• Cubans: Friends in Exile
• Modern Forms of Attenuated Racism: The Black Example
• Self-Esteem and Racism
• Economic Marginalization
• Blatant and Aversive Racism
• Media Portrayal of Minorities: Racial Profiling
• Promoting Affiliation and Intercultural Friendship
• The Changing Social Fabric
• Multicultural America and the Egalitarian Ethos
• Racism as a Cognitive Trap
• Interethnic Adaptability
• Unmasking Unconscious Perceptions of People of Color
• Empathic Listening
• The Role of Deliberate Affiliation
• Interethnic Manners: Towards a New Symbolism
• Summary
• Questions for Thought and Discussion
• Notes
• Suggested Readings

7. Aging and Nonverbal Communication - Making Sense of the Aging Process

• Chapter Overview
• Multiple Theories About the Aging Process
• Cognitive Development Theory
• A Symbolic Interactionist View
• Myths and Stereotypes About the Aging Process
• Ageism: Negativity and Stereotype
• The Universality Myth
• The Chronology Myth
• The Uniform Aging Myth
• The Terminal Drop Myth
• The Genetic Miracles Myth
• The Methusaleh Myth
• Opposing Research Models of the Aging Process
• A Deficit Model of Aging
• An Additive-Incremental Model of Aging
• Related Perspectives on The Aging Process
• An Ethological View of Aging
• Differential Aging Patterns
• Cultural Influences
• Aging, Class, Gender, Ethnicity and Technology
• Lifespan Changes and Nonverbal Behavior
• Stages of Growth and Identity Modification
• Biological Changes and the Psychology of Aging
• The Third Age: Emerging Paradigms and Trends
• Mental Health and Aging
• The Active Person: Proactivity, Networking and Place
• Scientific and Medical Breakthroughs
• Returning to the Methusaleh Factor
• New Symbolisms: The Achievement of Positive Identity
• Successful Aging and Self Presentation in Older Age
• Summary
• Questions for Thought and Discussion
• Notes
• Suggested Readings

8. Technological Influences on Nonverbal Communication - Making Sense of Communicative Technologies

• Chapter Overview
• Media Ecology and Information Technologies
• Myths About the Media
• The Mediated Construction of Reality
• Technologies as Designs for Human Action
• New Forms of Sociodrama
• Human Extensions
• Mediated Influences on Human Nonverbal Communication
• Television and Advertising
• The Computer and the Internet
• Specific Influences on Human Behavior
• A Reduced Human Sensorium
• Shifting Contexts: The Alteration of Place, Time and Space
• Increased Speed in Interaction: The Reduction in Lagtime
• Mind-Body-Machine Interaction: Emergent Cyborgs?
• Filtered Reality
• The Media as Influences on Identity Formation
• Self-Identity Revisited
• Television and Violence
• Cultish Behavior
• Related Psychological Influences
• The Need for Stimulation
• Serious Play
• Disinhibition
• Tekkies, Junkies and Copycats
• Media and Culture: The Diaspora
• The North-South Problem
• Technological Overlay and Displacement
• The Digital Divide
• Emerging Techno-Social Patterns
• The Emergent Electronic "Folk Culture"
• Returning to the Cyborg Metaphor
• A Consciousness Revolution?
• Summary
• Questions for Thought and Discussion
• Notes
• Suggested Readings

9. Symbolic Interaction and Nonverbal Communication - Making Sense of Symbolic Interaction

• Chapter Overview
• The Essential Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
• The SI Approach
• Body Symbolization and Identity
• Self Identity and Personal Agentry
• Intentional and Accidental Nonverbal Communication
• Master Concepts in Symbolic Interaction
• Symbols
• Signs and Icons
• Society and Human Interaction
• Human Consciousness, Awareness and Reflexivity
• Face, Self-Presentation and Impression Management
• Situation, Context and Codes
• Sociodramas, Ceremonies and Rituals
• The Origin and Growth of Symbolic Interactionism
• Important Scholars
• George Simmel
• Charles Horton Cooley
• William James
• George Herbert Mead
• John Dewey
• Herbert Blumer
• Erving Goffman
• Victor Turner
• Edward Jones
• Howard Becker
• Kenneth Burke
• Carl Couch
• Charles K. Warriner
• Recent Compatible Research
• Derek Layder
• Donal Carbaugh
• Debra Grodin and Thomas a Rindlof
• Mary Jo Deegan
• Anthony Giddens
• Norman Denzin
• Roberrt C. Prus
• Julia T. Wood
• Compatible Approaches and Orientations
• Joint Activity
• Action Theory
• Mediated Self Theory
• Semiotics
• Impression Management
• Ethology
• Postmodernism
• Symbolic Interaction: Science and Methodologies
• SI and Science
• Quantitative Methods
• Qualitative Methods
• Ethnography
• Summary
• Questions for Thought and Discussion
• Notes
• Suggested Readings

10. Interpreting Nonverbal Communication: Problems, Possibilities and Applications - Making Final Sense of Nonverbal Communication

• Chapter Overview
• Practical Issues and Problems
• The Sensemaking Process
• Skill and Levels of Awareness
• Situation and Standpoint
• Perceptual Distortion and Polysemia
• Early Closure
• Mindfulness and Mindlessness
• Sensory Thresholds
• Intersubjectivity and Individuality
• The Emotions-Rationality Dilemma
• Cultural Filtration
• Stereotypes, Stigmas and Over-Generalizations
• Leveled Expectations
• Professional Issues and Problems
• The Living Subjects Approach: Life as It is Lived
• Choosing Methodologies: Multiple Methodologies
• Stereotypes in Research
• The Verbal-Nonverbal Interface
• Nonverbal Communication Versus Nonverbal Behavior
• Research and Applications
• Tools for Self-assessment and Skill Building
• Overview
• The Investigative Mode
• The Art of Skillful Interpretation and Presentation
• Interpretive Tools
• The Personal Body Awareness Questionnaire
• Reading Emotions and Presentations of Others
• Playing the Sleuth
• Roles that I play
• My Presentational Style in Various Circumstances
• Engaging in Joint Activities
• The Influence of the Media
• Gender Orientations Questionnaire
• Interpreting Symbols
• My Body Signature
• Assessing Stereotypes
• Knowing Key SI Concepts
• Final remarks: A Postscript
• Becoming an Artful Nonverbal Communicator
• Increasing Problem-Solving Abilities
• Summary
• Questions for Thought and Discussion
• Notes
• Suggested Readings
• Glossary
• References